China will build a number of specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative (SRDI) empowerment centers to support the innovative development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The reporter learned from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that today, the "Notice on Carrying Out the Construction of Specialized, Refined, Distinctive and Innovative Empowerment Centers" was officially issued. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, China will build around 30 specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative empowerment centers, establish a nationwide service network, and provide strong support for the innovative development of small and medium-sized enterprises. Specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative empowerment centers, simply put, are service institutions dedicated to serving technological innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises. They are required to focus on segmented industries, provide high-level technical services, and serve as "innovation partners" for small and medium-sized enterprises. According to the requirements of the notice, construction will follow a promotion model of joint construction by ministries and provinces and piloting before wider rollout, closely align with enterprises' technological innovation needs, and integrate various innovation elements such as laboratories, scientific research platforms, talent, and finance. They will not only help enterprises tackle bottleneck technologies and promote the industrialization and application of scientific and technological achievements, but also support enterprises in participating in standard development and forming innovation consortia; at the same time, they will also support digital and intelligent transformation and green upgrading, organize supply and demand matching in industrial chains, and help enterprises expand domestic and international markets.